Tia's Tex-Nixed

Irving-based Tia's Restaurants Inc., aka Tia's Tex-Mex, filed for Chapter 7 liquidation yesterday, listing some $12.8 million in total assets and $22.6 million in liabilities in its filing. The 13-unit chain nurtured locations in Maryland, Florida and Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as Plano, Denton, Sherman and Killeen, Texas. The chain's roots stretch back to 1986, when it was launched as a small family restaurant. (Don't try its Web site; it's already gone.)

The company sites economic times (unemployment numbers hitting record lows, Dow Jones Industrial Average bumping into record highs—what gives?) and rising costs as the forces driving its decision to liquidate, which joins a grand list of high-profile closures in the last few months including George, Il Mulino, Jeroboam, Green Room, Chez Gerard, Tarantino's, Sense and Tutto, the latter of which will be transformed into a new Indian restaurant tomorrow, according to the restaurant's telephone message. --Mark Stuertz